Capistrano Valley Loses Another Game, and More

For Capistrano Valley Coach Jeff Veeder, even more painful than his team’s 55-27 loss to No. 10 Tustin Thursday night were the injuries suffered by the Cougars. Five five players were hurt in the blowout, two of whom are probably lost for the season.

“We went to a mugging and we were the victims,” Veeder said. “We got our butts handed to us.”

Junior strong safety Andrew Connors suffered the most severe injury, a compound fracture to his right ankle late in the first quarter.

“The way he went down, I thought he dislocated his hip,” Veeder said. “But when I went out there, his ankle was crooked.”

Veeder said both schools’ medical teams did an excellent job of treating Connors, but he wasn’t as happy with the ambulance service.

“It took them at least 20 minutes to respond,” Veeder said.

Connors underwent surgery Friday.

Junior offensive guard Greg McCann sustained a possible torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and is probably lost for the year. The other three injuries were comparably minor: fullback Brant Melton and guard Jason Chatham suffered mild concussions and tailback Dan Chapman had a hip pointer.

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Despite his injury, Melton, a converted linebacker, scored four touchdowns and rushed for a career-high 85 yards against Tustin, giving him 258 yards this season.

“He wants to play defense,” Veeder said, “but I keep telling him to pretend he is a linebacker when he has the ball, and to run people over.”

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Ryan Schissler, who ran for his life when he became Laguna Beach’s starting quarterback as a sophomore, admitted that in the past he dreaded games because he knew what was coming.

But that dread has given way to hope for the senior, whose team is off to its best start in more than a decade despite Friday’s 46-12 loss to Ocean View.

“After 0-10 and 2-8 seasons, no one’s out there just to look nice in their pads,” Schissler said. “They’re out there to prove something to themselves, to their family, to their school, to their community.”

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For struggling Santa Margarita, finding the right uniform color combination might be just the key.

On Friday night against San Clemente, the Eagles went with their gold jersey/royal blue pants for the first time since losing to El Toro in 1995.

They have used seven different combinations over the years, and Pete Stevenson, P.A. announcer for the 14 years of the school’s existence, knows them all too well.

“All blue is my favorite,” Stevenson said, “but [Coach Jim] Hartigan tells me the luckiest is all white.”

Color the Eagles successful. They beat San Clemente, 43-7.

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There’s a very good reason Servite and Fountain Valley are playing at 2 today instead of 7:30 p.m.

“Our sister school, Rosary, is holding its annual father-daughter dance [tonight],” Friar Coach Larry Toner said. “We never want the two events to conflict. We want the fathers to be able to attend both.”